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#title: Adobe threatening software creators in US and EU with Palette Patent

#descr: In summer 2001 Adobe attacked Macromedia for infringing on its US
patent no 5546528 which lays claim to the idea of adding a third
dimension to menus by grouping them as tabbed palettes one behind the
other.  The European Patent Office (EPO) has illegally granted
EP0689133 with exactly the same set of claims and priority date of
1994-06-23 on 2001-08-06, after five years of examination period. 
Many programs, including free software such as The GIMP, infringe on
this patent and will therefore be at the mercy of Adobe, if the EPO's
practise of granting software patents is made enforcable by a
Directive from the European Commission.

#Ubp: US verdict against Macromedia: 2.8 mn USD in damages to be payed to
Adobe for using tabbed palettes.  Macromedia is simultaneously suing
Adobe for infringement of two of its patents and forcing them to
withdraw or downgrade programs such as PhotoShop and GoLive

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